Environmental Performance Index
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a method of quantifying and numerically benchmarking the environmental performance of a country's policies. This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published in 2002, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. The EPI was preceded by the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), published between 1999 and 2005. Both indexes were developed by Yale University (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy) and Columbia University (Center for International Earth Science Information Network) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The ESI was developed to evaluate environmental sustainability relative to the paths of other countries. Due to a shift in focus by the teams developing the ESI, the EPI uses outcome-oriented indicators, then working as a benchmark index that can be more easily used by policy makers, environmental scientists, advocates and the general public. See Executive Summary, pp. 32-35 for a detailed comparison between the ESI 2005, the EPI 2006 and the EPI 2008. As of January 2010 three EPI reports have been released - the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index, and the 2008 and 2010 Environmental Performance Index. In the 2010 scorecard, the top five countries were Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, and Norway. The bottom five countries were Togo, Angola, Mauritania, the Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone. See also official Press release 2008 Variables Overall EPI score 2010 On 28 January 2010 Yale University and Columbia University released the 2010 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 163 countries. The top performer for 2010 is Iceland due to its high scores on environmental public health, gets virtually all of its power from renewable sources (hydropower and geothermal energy), and its control of greenhouse gas emissions. The United States fell to the 61st position, as compared to 39th in the 2008 EPI, Brazil ranks 62nd, Russia 69th, China 121st, and India ranks 123rd. Top 30 countries and score 93.5 89.1 86.4 86.0 81.1 80.6 78.2 78.1 78.1 76.8 76.3 74.7 74.5 74.2 73.4 73.3 73.2 73.1 73.0 72.5 72.5 71.6 71.4 71.4 70.6 69.9 69.8 69.6 69.4 69.3 2008 On 23 January 2008 Yale University and Columbia University released the 2008 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 149 countries. The environmental experts at both universities concluded that "analysis of the drivers underlying the 2008 rankings suggests that wealth is a major determinant of environmental success". Top 30 countries and score 95.5 93.1 93.1 91.4 90.5 89.4 88.9 88.8 88.3 87.8 87.6 86.6 86.3 86.3 86.3 86.2 86.0 85.8 85.2 84.6 84.5 84.4 84.2 84.2 84.2 84.0 84.0 84.0 83.9 83.4 83.1 2006 On 26 January 2006 Yale (YCELP) and Columbia University (CIESIN) released the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 133 countries. It was done in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Top 30 countries and score 88.0 87.8 87.0 86.0 85.6 85.2 84.2 84.0 83.3 83.3 82.9 82.5 82.1 81.9 81.6 81.4 80.4 80.2 80.2 80.1 79.8 79.4 79.2 79.1 79.1 78.9 78.7 78.5 78.4 77.7 See also *Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) *Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) *Green Stickered Energy Consumption Indexes References External links *Yale University – EPI – A collaboration between Yale and Columbia Universities *Yale University – YCELP – Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy Category:Environment Category:Lists of countries by international rankings cs:Environmental Performance Index de:Environmental Performance Index es:Índice de Desempeño Ambiental fr:Indice de performance environnementale it:Indice di sostenibilità ambientale pt:Índice de Desempenho Ambiental sk:Environmental Performance Index